PEKIN — Jennifer Levin of Washington swore she didn’t purposely kill her mother, who weighed only 52 pounds and was matted to her bed by body waste when she died of starvation.

Levin, 42, put up virtually no fight against the charge of criminal neglect of the elderly that produced a 12-year prison term Friday.

In only her second court appearance since she was charged in mid-March, Levin admitted she provided virtually no care for Carole Levin, 66, for at least several weeks before her mother died July 19 in the residence the two shared at 113 Argo St., Apt. D.

Her sentence was only two years short of the maximum for the crime and could be cut in half with good behavior. She also was given credit for the 47 days she’s spent in custody since her arrest.

Jennifer Levin had told the Tazewell County assistant coroner who responded to the report of the death that her mother had Alzheimer’s disease, was unable to care for herself and had refused to eat as her health declined over the previous several weeks.

Before the assistant coroner first saw the body, she told him, “I did not starve my mother.”

While an autopsy determined Carole Levin had died of starvation and dehydration, the state of the victim and her surroundings when she died revealed more about her last days of life.

She was very dirty and partially covered with feces, according to a prosecutor’s affidavit. Some of her many bedsores were infected and extended to the bone. A diaper she wore was filled with feces and insects, the affidavit stated.

The funeral home which came to collect the body reported it was stuck to the bed with dried feces and urine, the affidavit stated. More feces were strewn throughout the bedroom.

Jennifer Levin, whom court records identified as her mother’s caretaker, told police her mother had not seen a doctor in approximately two years.